Tons more SummerSlam feedback

Sunday, 18 August 2013 22:42

Summer Slam: Thumbs Up

Best Match: Bryan vs. Cena

Worst Match: Wyatt vs. Kane

I went to the show live at Staples. Before the show even started there were lots of HBK chants since he was up at the desk. Also a lot of RVD chants before the Kick off started. Some good chants for Dean Ambrose during the first match, at least in my section any way. Okay match with a bad finish since it really didn't accomplish anything. People seemed to like the fire surrounding the ring for the opening match as it was cool in person, but the match itself stunk. Wyatt winning was a must, but he seemed so weak in that it was just his family that did all the work. Rhodes vs. Sandow was decent. There were some chants for Where's Your Mustache? I guess that was a heel stache. Didn't seem like anyone cared too much for these guys. Christian vs. Del Rio was very good. People were into Christian. I was kind of hoping they had cut the Divas match, but it wasn't too be. That footage from the Axxess match was awful. Glad that wasn't at Summer Slam. At least Natalya got a win on ppv I guess. Not sure what the point of this Ryback angle is. Certainly didn't need it on this show. Maybe he'll eventually pick on the wrong backstage help and they will challenge him or something. Otherwise it seems stupid. Lesnar vs. Punk was excellent. Great match. I was fine with either guy winning here. Mixed tag match wasn't much. I hope Dolph gets moved into a different feud now. Great WWE Title match. Tons of support for Bryan, but still a lot of kids and females around me that were way into Cena. They started booing Bryan. Fans popped for the Orton deal it seemed, maybe it was just the Cena fans happy for revenge. I was loving that Bryan won the title and they did fool me with the confetti and celebration figuring no cash in plus Vince never came out. But then Triple H did his thing and Orton wins the title. I do like that Bryan is in a main event position now. Hope he gets a run with the title at some point. The top matches made this a great show. The other stuff will be easily forgotten. The only celeb I saw at the show was the lady who plays Shirley on the sitcom "Community."

Wow. This show was, um, it was the WWE show of the year. I immediately preordered the bluray from Best Buy as soon as it was over. I never do that. That's how highly I thought of this show. Kane vs. Bray Wyatt wasn't a very good "wrestling" match, but I did enjoy the spectacle of the fire. Sandow vs. Cody was fine for what it was. Buffalo Wild Wings popped at Cody's mustache being gone. Christian vs. Alberto del Rio was really, really surprisingly good, and I thought they might actually do the title change. Those two guys brought it. The divas match was a divas match. I hated that Dolph was put in the death spot.

Punk vs. Lesnar. Now, this was awesome. The restaurant was going absolutely crazy that whole time. That was some art they did out there. That wasn't a wrestling match. That was a fight, and it was wonderful. Brock looked like he was back in his environment, and looked like he did in his first match back last year against Cena. I'm curious as to what they do with Punk now. Honestly, it could be match of the night 1A.

The main event. Cena vs. Bryan. This match was off the charts. The crowd at the restaurant was quiet during parts of it, but I sat there with a smile of my face enjoying every second it. Just a great story being told. John Cena more than carried his on in this match. We got some fighting spirit at the end and I went apeshit crazy. It was awesome. When the fireworks and confetti came down I thought we'd actually get Bryan as champion for one day, but then the swerve happened. I marked out there too. Evolution 2.0 ... or something. It was great.

Yes, I'm coming off as a gigantic WWE fan boy here, but I enjoyed the show that much tonight. Superb effort by all parties involved, and I can't wait to see where we go next.

I really liked the show tonight. Christian vs Del Rio was a very good match to me as I like both guys and thought the action was solid. Punk vs Lesnar was a great match with both guys looking like equals. The submission and mma work was pretty unique for WWE but seemed to get over with the crowd. Heyman played into it well and I think a rematch would go really well. I thought Bryan's title win over Cena was a fantastic match and Cena is a class act for putting him over like that. I was hoping they wouldn't do the MITB cash-in but it got a heel heat reaction for me. Orton and Bryan had great matches on t.v. and I think that could continue in a program. I would especially like to see a big Hell In The Cell match between them in October. I would also think with Orton and HHH teaming up they might re-form Evolution, hopefully with younger guys, and Bryan might take them on with his own faction. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking by me. Either way, tonight's show was one very worth watching.

Dave MusgraveOshawa, Ontario

So between the G-1 and Summerslam can we say August 2013 is one of the best months of wrestling in history?

I thought this show was awesome, some things were a little slow but I thought that it helped the pacing so no one was burnt out when the big matches came.

RVD/Ambrose was pretty solid and the crowd was REALLY hot particularly for RVD and The Shield.

Some are saying Kane/Bray was the worst match of the year, I don't know if I'd go that far. Kaitlyn and Tamina from Smackdown was far, far, FAR worse. This one seemed to have a lot of production problems as they missed Kane's first chokeslam and they missed Rowan and Harper taking out the fireman. But nothing that made me mad or anything, so it didn't matter much.

Christian/ADR was a great sleeper match. I expected as much but man I like this match. The main problem I had with Del Rio's first heel run was that his offense was boring. He's remedied this problem, big time. I love his arm work and his stiff kicks (was it me or did he KILL Christian with that first enzuiguri?). I thought the finish and story were awesome and I actually think this was easily ****. Maybe I'm being generous but I loved it. The promo afterward, I thought FOR SURE that Rey was running out. But it just kinda hapenned... Ok.

Ok Lesnar/Punk. Awesome. Just Awesome. I sometimes wonder if Hunter watches a match like this and wonders what he did wrong. This ties with Lesnar's Cena match as my favorite since he's returned. I was expecting the match to be similar to Lesnar/Cena in the sense I sort of expected a beatdown with blood, but I suppose now would be the time you really need Punk healthy at the moment (with Cena needing surgery). Still, awesome match. I heard some people bitching that Lesnar won, I thought it worked fine. I was surprised, but I disagree with the assumption that Brock didn't need the win because IT'S BROCK. Well IT'S BROCK isn't drawing on its own, he needs to be a monster. It's not like this is the end, I guarantee that Punk/Lesnar II is coming and unlike HHH/Lesnar II I suspect people will actually care.

The mixed tag was a fine buffer match. Except for when they kept showing that Doritos douchebag. Big E is a tremendous athlete but he needs two things: a better moveset and more clothing.

Main Event time, I figured they needed something special to beat Punk/Lesnar... And they did. To me this match was better than Punk/Cena at MITB. So yes, ***** in my book. Cena also gets a hats off for working with his elbow the way it was. When Bryan was preparing for that knee, that's when it hit me that I was watching something special. The match was just surreal and perhaps most surreal... Bryan got the clean pin. I had to stop and think "I never thought I'd see the day when Bryan Danielson cleanly pinned John Cena in the main event of Summerslam" and some marks are still bitching but that's the Internet for you. The slapping part was incredible, just amazing heat.

The aftermath was really well done as well. I was watching Hunter the whole time and as soon as it happened the people went nuts. Interesting that Vince didn't come out. Orton's title reign hopefully keeps Bryan from falling for the "Sting syndrome" where "we just want you to win the belt, not be the champion".

So yeah best Summerslam since 02 in my book. I've heard people say things like "good thing this card had Cena/Bryan and Punk/Lesnar". Well no-shit, that's what people paid for, they'd paid for those matches to be awesome and they got their money's worth. That mentality only works for a mid card match that stole the show while the main event was crap. In my opinion, this show was better than MITB 11. Yeah that had four 4+ star matches and this had only three IMO, but a) that show benefitted from two ladder matches, b)This show was much better booking wise (referring mostly to the finish of Orton/Christian), and c) This show had a ****3/4 match and a ***** match in my opinion. But again to each is own.

Joey Hickmann

Let’s set the record straight. Bryan Danielson is a 90’s WCW talentin the NWO era, like Eddie or Chris Jericho.

Tonight is perfect, 100%, undeniable beyond a reasonable doubt proofthat he will never be allowed to succeed at the same level he is over(that is, WWE champion) and at least try to be the major face of thecompany for a time.

He gets a clean win over John Cena for the WWE title, in a fantasticmatch, on the main event of Summerslam. He isn’t even given a 24 hourperiod to be champion. Instead, the more company-approved standby isgiven the title minutes after Danielson wins it.

You see, this isn’t good storytelling. If the story was always togive Randy the title at the end of Summerslam, that is still anundervaluation of Danielson’s talents and popularity. Danielson isalways going to be undervalued. The build to Summerslam was authorityfigures struggling to find value in Danielson’s character. Much ofthose Raws revolved around authority figures telling the audience whythey SHOULDN’T be cheering for Danielson. No one was shy abouttelling him to his face what his perceived flaws were.

He faced an insurmountable uphill climb. In the skits and vignettesVince was always acting out his real-life belief that Danielson shouldnot be champion and face of the company. Another example of Vincetrying to crush the spirit, motivation, enthusiasm and love forwrestling of an employee in plain sight right to his face.

The conclusion to Vince’s latest sadistic and soul-crushing conquestis tonight’s Summerslam. Danielson was given a lesson: who’s boss,who’s in charge of making superstars, and who’s going to tell the fanswhat to think about you. Tonight, the message after Orton cashed inhis briefcase was that Danielson was NEVER going to succeed. Notkayfabe storyline, but real-life Bryan Danielson. The evidence hasbeen presented in plain sight on Raw during the build-up.

It’s WCW in the NWO era all over again, only it’s harder to recognizebecause there’s no alternative at the same level to compare it to.WWE put over Austin, Foley and Rock when WCW was keeping young talentdown. There’s no alternative for Danielson to jump to that will pushhim at the same level as his popularity and his talent.

We just assume it’s good storytelling instead of a real-life screwjobhappening before our very eyes.

And what happened to Orton trying to kill Stephanie?

David Zgurski

Hi Mr Meltzer,

Thumbs up!

I ordered Summerslam tonight. I watched with my brother Andrew, his wife Jen, and 10 month old baby Scarlet. I haven't ordered a WWE pay per view in years but am glad I did. Two match card but both those matches were great. Del Rio/Christian was good as well. My bro doesn't watch much wrestling these days but also enjoyed the show, he gave it a 7.5/10

Best Match-- Lesnar/Punk

So many false finishes and I bit on several of them. Hot crowd for the match. Looked like the match could have ended several times before it actually did.

Worst match- mixed tag and woman match.

adding-- Daniel Bryan/Cena. Thought it was a great story with Daniel Bryan. He finally realizes his dream, then just before it looks like they were going off the air, Orton comes out. Orton teases leaving, but Triple H hits the pedigree and Orton cashes in. Very well done. I feel sad for Daniel so WWE making compelling characters right now. As long as Bryan hits the payday eventually and gets a title run while he's so over, then I'm fully down with this angle.

ROH having a good month, New japan great G1 tourny and Summerslam a good show too... wrestling is solid right now!

thanks,

Dan Petrucci

And WWE's streak of very solid PPVs continues...fantastic show which had us on the edge of our seats plus the ending to Cena vs Bryan came out of nowhere...sucks Daniel lost the title but we all knew that was going to happen. Will say Triple H for the most part did a great job of making us forget he was the referee until the end when he screwed Bryan.

Thumbs upMatch of the night barely was Punk vs Lesnar with Cena v Bryan a very close secondWorst match; Wyatt vs Kane...just went too long and finish was just blah.

~John ChagarisOrlando, Fl

Thumbs UpBest match: Punk-Lesnar Worst match: Kane-Wyatt

Just want to say I thought Punk-Lesnar was a MOY contender. Best thing in the US for sure.

I'm sure there will be a million opinions on the end. Pretty much par for the course for WWE I thought. Bryan is still going to be the most over guy in the company. Cena is clearly hurting bad. He needs a rest badly and let's hope he gets it.

Mike Trask Las Vegas

Thumbs up!Best: Punk/LesnarWorst: Kane/Wyatt

It was a two match show going in, but they delivered big time. Christian vs. Del Rio was good and nothing was below par, with the exception of the opener.

I give the match of the night to punk/Lesnar just due to the punishment each guy took. It was the textbook way to make Punk look good in losing and makes it a match I would like to see again at Mania. Lesnar matches are really something to behold, and his matches vs. Cena and Punk were far superior to his series with HHH.

The finish to Cena/Bryan was really unexpected. Besides being pinned clean by Rock at WM 28, I can't recall a time Cena lost clean without a hint of interference, so they really did a great job making Bryan a star. They also carried on the celebration long enough to make you think Orton wasn't going to come out. The HHH turn was well done. I would've liked to see Bryan kick out of the first attempt and then eat an RKO, but that's a minor complaint. The finish was perfect to make his ultimate win even more of a big deal than tonight was.

They really have a chance now with Bryan and it looks like the company is behind him all the way.

This show was far better than Wrestlemania, which is the last one I ordered. I like having less matches in order to make sure everyone gets a good amount of time.

-Chris Hughes

best match: Punk V. Lesnarworst match: the mix tag. too short.

Thumbs up, but I’m pissed that Bryan was kicking out of Cena’s big impact moves, but one pedigree knocks Bryan out for a few minutes. HHH is an egomaniac for putting his finisher over big time. He could have at least Bryan with a sledgehammer before pedigree Bryan.